Allen West plagued by scam PACs

In the presidential race, and tied to the coattails of Republican firebrand Rep. Allen West, a cottage industry has sprung up in which groups with such seemingly innocuous names as “Patriots for Economic Freedom” use high-profile campaigns and big names like West to raise money for themselves and build their email lists.

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It’s the inevitable, if unsightly, convergence of the Internet, tea party, the post-Citizens United campaign-finance era and the presence of a Democrat in the White House who is despised by many conservatives. Political operatives can create a PAC and corresponding website on the cheap, drop some cash to rent an email list and, voilà— in come the small-dollar contributions from grass-roots Republicans eager to support any effort aiming to turn out President Barack Obama or reelect the fiery West.

Except those chunks of $25 and $50 don’t often find their way to any serious campaigns to beat Obama or boost West.

“The vast majority of the groups that we know are engaged in this have done nothing for West,” said Jill Holtzman Vogel, the congressman’s campaign attorney.

And, with the outfits that have given to West, those contributions pale in comparison to the money they’ve raised using the freshman Republican’s name.

According to media trackers and West campaign officials, none of the many conservative super PACs purportedly raising money for the congressman is airing TV ads on his behalf.

The Florida Republican’s campaign has sent cease-and-desist letters to a number of the groups and filed complaints with the Federal Election Commission, copies of which the campaign shared with POLITICO. But the organizations have been only mildly deterred and some continue to raise funds for themselves with marketing that would suggest they represent the actual campaign.

One organization, CAPE PAC, has a Google ad headlined, “Allen West in 2012: Join our Campaign & Help Us.” The URL goes even further: It is “www.allenwest2012.co.”

Yes, that’s “.co,” not “.com.”

A click on the link takes the reader to CAPE PAC’s main home page, something that a spokesman for the group said was a concession to the West campaign’s demands. Previously, the link directed readers to a CAPE PAC Web page meant to look like West’s actual campaign site.

Mark Pfeifle, a consultant who works for CAPE PAC, emphasized that their Web ads now send readers to the PAC’s main home page.

“At the top and bottom [of the home page] it shows they’re clearly not affiliated with the campaign,” Pfeifle noted.

But Pfeifle acknowledged that CAPE PAC was trying to maximize its presence online.

“They are working to win candidate and campaign search engine warfare,” he said. “They’re trying to be one of the big pro-Republican websites for the candidates they support.”

Pfeifle insisted that the organization had run $10,000 of TV ads for West before his summer primary, but when asked where they aired, he said they were “on cable TV” in the district — and then listed a group of network affiliates in Palm Beach and Fort Myers.

“They are damn liars,” West consultant Chris LaCivita all but shouted about the claim.

In their complaint to the FEC about CAPE PAC, West’s campaign noted that in the third-party group’s July finance report, “nearly 1 out of every 10 contributions” was refunded to the donors.

Readers' Comments (42)

He is just pxssed because he has not gotten his cut yet. Gotta love it when the scam pacs are just as bad as the so called real ones. One good thing at least the scam pacs will not spend the money on the dumb commercials.

One of the big stories that will come out of this election is how much of the Republican cash advantage that was supposed to tilt the election was diverted to the pockets of those who run the conservative PACs.

Even the Romney campaign itself is getting fleeced, paying its staff on average twice what the Obama campaign does.

I like a lot of conservatives. I do not like Allen West. We don't move the ball forward by calling each other communists and insulting the president's intelligence.People like him are

"...Maybe. But she, or someone like her, will always be with us, waiting for the right climate in which to flourish, spreading fear in the name of righteousness. Vigilance, Mister Worf - that is the price we have to continually pay."

Allen West is insane and shouldn't be in public office. He's divisive, ignorant, slanderous and I hope he loses his seat. West doesn't make Washington better; he makes it worse. He should be the standard bearer of why Congress has a 7% approval rating. Being nasty doesn't help the American people.

well as a proud resident of south florida where this regions motto is: Welcome to South Florida, home of the scam"

This is BRILLIANT .. defrauding medicare, setting up Scam Medicare HMO (medicare advantage insurance), Selling and renting houses that don't belong to you, but are foreclosed or the owners live out of state.

I wonder if any laws are actually being broken here. Does Citizens United SAY you must spend the money? Politicians are not able to copyright their own names.. so to me it sounds like a Brilliant idea.

No surprise that the scammers are scamming a scammer. Allen West is a vortex for sleaze-- from embarrassing the US military when he physically abused an Iraqi police officer, to his use of thugs to intimidate opponents during the 2010 campaign, to making up the McCarthyite lie that Democrats are "card-carrying members of the Communist Party," to the deep, deep gutter of his current campaign.

He lives in world where ignorance and meanness reign. Is it any surprise that this scammers' ignorant supporters are being scammed by a scammer who's scamming him?

No surprise that scammers are scamming Allen West, who himself is a vortex of sleaze and scams -- from embarrassing the US military when he physically abused an Iraqi police officer, to his use of thugs to intimidate opponents during the 2010 campaign, to making up the McCarthyite lie that Democrats are "card-carrying members of the Communist Party," to the deep, deep gutter of his current campaign.

He lives in world where ignorance and meanness reign. Is it any surprise that this scammers' ignorant supporters are being scammed by a scammer who's scamming him?

People who support candidates like West come from the Tea Party and the extreme religious right. These folks are probably among the most gullible people on the face of the Earth. I can remember my Grandmother back in the late 30's and 40's listening to the radio preachers and their call to "keep those cards and letters coming" Those cards and letters all contained a few dollars that made the preacher rich and the sender poorer